By Brian Homewood
ZURICH (Reuters) - Switzerland's Euro 2016 preparations suffered a fresh setback when they gave another toothless display and lost 2-0 at home to Bosnia on Tuesday, their second defeat without scoring in five days.
Edin Dzeko and Miralem Pjanic, with a majestic free kick, scored in each half for the visitors, who did not qualify for France but nevertheless looked the more accomplished team.
Bosnia fans, the noisy majority in the 16,000 crowd, celebrated by letting off firecrackers at the Letzigrund, prompting warnings from the stadium announcers. Beaten 1-0 by Ireland on Friday, Switzerland again appeared to have no adequate replacement for playmaker Xherdan Shaqiri who was sidelined with a thigh injury.
Meanwhile, the Swiss defence was repeatedly exposed by Bosnia's swift counterattacks with Dzeko proving too much for Fabian Schaer to cope with. Veteran central defender Philippe Senderos, who played only once in the qualifiers, was given a surprise start by Switzerland but it turned into a nightmare evening for the former Arsenal player whose mistake led to the first goal.
Senderos gifted the ball to Senad Lulic in midfield, the Bosnian quickly switched play to Dzeko who fired a low shot past Yann Sommer as Schaer backed off in the 14th minute.
Schaer was replaced at halftime by Timm Klose but Bosnia increased their lead in the 57th minute when Pjanic scored after Senderos had fouled Dzeko. Haris Seferovic, who was also eligible to play for Bosnia but chose Switzerland, had the two best chances for the hosts but squandered them both after getting clear of the defence, earning a chorus of jeers from the visiting fans.